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One Arrested, Lockdown at University Of New Haven Lifted

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP/ CBS Connecticut) _ A suspect was taken into custody Tuesday following a report of a man near the University of New Haven campus with what appeared to be a rifle, the school said.

Police identified the commuter student as William Dong.

University spokesperson Karen Grava said a report was made to West Haven Police, that a man was spotted at a Shop Rite, with what appeared to be a rifle, and that he was headed toward campus.

After the report came in, the university had urged students and staff to stay inside, and several police officers responded to the West Haven school. Police spent all afternoon Tuesday searching buildings.

The last area of the campus was lifted from lockdown about 5 pm.

The University has cancelled afternoon and evening classes for the day.

Kyle Gelinas, an 18-year-old freshman at the university, said he saw a person in handcuffs being questioned by police across the street from his dorm.

“He’s just sitting on the railing. They’re just talking to him like a casual conversation,” Gelinas said. “Everything is very calm.”

The university enrolls about 6,400 students. The majority of its 4,600 undergraduates live in university housing.

Several nearby public schools also put out shelter-in-place orders as a precaution, but those orders were lifted later by at least some of the schools.

The incident marks the third scare at a Connecticut university in the last month.

Last week, Yale University in neighboring New Haven was locked down for six hours after a man called police and said somebody was coming to shoot up the campus. Police have said that appeared to be a hoax.

Central Connecticut State University was in lockdown for several hours Nov. 4 after reports by witnesses of a masked man carrying a gun or sword. Police arrested a student, David Kyem, who said he had been wearing a ninja-like Halloween costume and meant no harm. He faces charges including breach of peace.